Restaurant Dale Miller now Taste, severs chef connection

The downtown Albany restaurant Dale Miller is changing its name to Taste and ending its association with the eponymous chef, who hasn’t cooked in the restaurant for more than six months, both sides said this week.

The reconceived Taste, to be officially launched in mid-January, will feature lower prices, a more relaxed atmosphere and a contemporary, eclectic menu by the new head chef, Paul Ozimek, who was one of Miller’s top lieutenants since the restaurant opened, in May 2009.

Ozimek

The news ends an uneasy limbo that began in June when Miller, 51, took what was billed as a consulting job with the venerable Sperry’s restaurant in Saratoga Springs, which was being reopened under new ownership. At the time, Miller, Sperry’s management and the owners of the Albany restaurant all said Miller had been engaged as executive chef to develop Sperry’s menus and train its staff. Further, they said, he would divide his time between the two eateries after devoting the busy summer season to Sperry’s.

Instead, both sides said, an unspecified standoff developed between Miller and the owners of the namesake Albany restaurant, and the chef returned only twice after mid-June to host events, including his high school reunion. Months-long negotiations collapsed in November after the parties could not agree on a new contract that would have continued Miller’s association with the Albany restaurant and redefined his duties, they said. Miller remains executive chef of Sperry’s. He did not have a financial interest in the Albany restaurant.

“We’re disappointed in how it turned out,” said James D. Linnan, an Albany attorney who bankrolled the restaurant that was conceived and developed by his wife, Maura Gannon, Miller and himself. Gannon has been general manager of the restaurant since the beginning.

Miller

“This is one of those bends in the road that most partners don’t think about,” Miller said this week. “When you go into something with dreams of success, you never think about what may happen someday.”

“He helped us build a beautiful restaurant, but we have to move forward,” Linnan said. Taste is located at 30 South Peal St., at the back of an office tower across from the Times Union Center, with a conservatory-style bar area facing a terrace and 13th-floor banquet spaces boasting skyline and river views.

Ozimek, 30, has been chef de cuisine since June, overseeing all restaurant and banquet menus and cooking.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to make the dining experience a little more fun, a little less formal and to bring the prices down a little,” said Ozimek, an Albany native whose resumé includes working with the celebrated chefs Thomas Keller, Charlie Trotter and Michael Mina.

The new name, Ozimek’s menu and some cosmetic changes to the restaurant, including updated plates and glassware, will launch Tuesday, Jan. 18; the renamed website should be up this afternoon with the new menus, Gannon said. Aside from Miller the staff remains intact, she said, and the restaurant will honor all gift cards with the Dale Miller name.

The fare will include additional small-plate options, which have been featured since the beginning, as well as multicourse tasting menus and slightly lower prices for half- and full-size entrées.

“That’s how all the trends say people are eating now — lighter, more small plates and (global) influences,” said Gannon. She estimated the average Taste dinner check will be 15 percent to 20 percent lower than in the previous incarnation.

Ozimek and Gannon said Taste’s food and service will maintain the restaurant’s high standards, while the lower prices and replacement of tablecloths with leather-topped tables will signal a less formal, more comfortable and fun dining experience.

“We don’t want to be a special-occasion-only place,” said Ozimek. “It should be somewhere people feel comfortable coming to several times a week — maybe not for a full meal but just a small plate or two.”

Since opening, Gannon, whose background is in concert promotion, aggressively advertised the restaurant. The ads prominently displayed the words “Dale Miller” to capitalize on Miller’s local reputation and his distinction of being one of only 66 people in the country who have earned the designation of certified master chef. Gannon’s challenge now, she said, is to disentangle Taste from the name of the former chef and convince current and potential patrons the restaurant is as good as or better than it has been since the beginning.

“What I’ve been telling people is if they’ve eaten here in the past six months, they’ve had Paul’s food,” she said. “That’s not going to change; the service isn’t going to change.” In fact, Linnan said, like many chefs de cuisine, Ozimek was largely responsible for executing food service most of the time, with Miller in a conceptual and managerial role. Linnan noted that Miller was out of town and Ozimek in charge when the restaurant served the meal that resulted in former Times Union dining critic Ruth Fantasia awarding a rare four-star rating in July 2009.

Linnan

Gannon said she called everyone who has a contract for an upcoming banquet at the restaurant to tell them about the change in name and chef. None canceled, she said.

Linnan, who had considered Miller a friend for 25 years, said he, Gannon and Miller regret how their business venture ended.

Said Miller, “There was full commitment on all of our parts. Things happen, and tough decisions have to be made.”

Said Linnan, “It’s unfortunate, but that doesn’t change the quality of our restaurant or our commitment to continuing it as Taste.”

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Dale Miller is a name folks around here know. They went there for his food. Can’t imagine a place called Taste without a local celebrity chef will pull in the same numbers.

While I wish Taste luck, it’s not the same. It will be a new restaurant. And we all know how the majority of those go. If they can pull it off, great, but I don’t see it.

This is sad news. While I wasn’t able to frequent Dale Miller as often as I would have liked, the food and service were impeccable every time. Honestly, I never felt like they were that expensive in consideration of the quality offered. Dale Miller was never cheap, but you certainly got a lot of “bang for your buck”. There are many area restaurants that routinely serve inferior food at similar price points.

I along with many are not suprised how this has turned out. I expect to see many “I told you so” regarding prior stories on this blog. Dale Miller was the wrong name for this restaurant in the beginning and the business is going to pay some kind of price for that mistake now. I have worked with Paul and think he is a very nice guy. This is a great learning experience but being a executive chef and a sous chef are two entirely different things. There is a lot to learn about the differences in the two and I wish him luck. I would be concerned about the reasons why Dale left. Two things I take from this,I wonder how a new restaurant owner has clashed with a CMC and drove him out of his namesake place? Will Paul be just a puppet. Also,Dale Miller’s track record of committment to anything long term at this point is certainly in question.

I am probably the contrarian here but we ate at Dale Miller when it first opened and it was lovely – but there was nearly nothing on the menu I could safely eat (seafood allergy) so we didn’t rush back. I’ve been back for drinks – fantastic evening – and lunch very recently. The lunch was OUTSTANDING!! And the service was fantastic, too. I attended a cocktail reception there last night and you could tell something wasn’t quite right so this explains it.

I, for one, am looking forward to more of Ozimek’s food. Chef – please remember those of us who can’t eat shellfish but still love creative and delicious luxury foods!

The only thing Dale has presently is that track record of up and leaving many establishments, very sad. As the owners have said, Paul has been the “primary” guy at Dale Millers, and on a previous blog everyone disagreed to agree and so on, Dale again proved that you can’t run two restaurants at the same time. The name Taste is weird ~ if you’re going to name it after your chef, name it Ozi’s =)

i went to dale miller’s albany restaurant on one occasion,the food was not good.we sent back the original entrees(tough steaks)and got only a slightly better cut the second time.we wrote a polite note to them re:our experience.never heard back from them.good riddance.

I’ve been to two catered events on the 13th floor, the last a holiday party in December. The food was mediocre at best, service not good either. I’m certain at one point they actually put out a cold eggplant lasagna (cold as in from the frig, not just room temp) on the buffet table. The organizers of the event said the general manager was difficult to work with, quite uncooperative. The only thing going for the place is the view. Maybe there has been a lack of focus and oversight the last 6 months, but many restaurants in the area offer better banquet fare.

I do have to say launching a restaurant with a chef’s name, who isn’t financially tied to the venture except through employment seems a bit misguided…

Taste is a bit of a milquetoast name…

Also strange how the negative comments for the Dale Miller restaurant come out of the woodwork when we’re all told the chef hasn’t overseen things in months. Maybe I missed a post and/or you’ve gotten emails Steve dissing the Dale Miller experience

Too bad. I liked Miller’s work back at Jack’s. But in this economy, the prices at Dale Miller were way too high and its image too effete. Good luck to “Taste” (tho I agree the name is weak)and Chef Ozimek. Many sous chefs segue successfully into executive chefs.

I have to agree with BB(#17). My husband and I ate at Dale Miller a month or so after it opened and although the food was good, it wasn’t great.

My husband’s work had a Christmas party there last month and everything was amazing! The food and service were superb. We’re going back next weekend to celebrate our anniversary. Good luck to Chef Ozi!

I worked there over a year ago and even then Mike O was in charge of the kitchen. If you have had a meal there in the past 14 months, it was his, good or bad. He was named a sous chef but was really the guy in charge. And to whomever said that the GM was hard to work for was right on the money

Thanks, Steve, for finally putting an end to all the speculation. Now, maybe both Taste and Sperry’s can concentrate on trying to stay in business in this tough economic climate. I have a feeling, though, that Taste will have a tough time of it. Not because of the food so much as the location. I found the location a bit odd and not easy to find for people living in the suburbs and driving in and perhaps not familiar with downtown Albany. A restaurant has to be very compelling to get me down there.

I called Dale Miller in October to plan a 50th anniversary party for my parents. I spoke with Maura and she could not have been more helpful. She was incredibly professional and ensured that my parents’ party went off without a hitch. Everyone had a fantastic time and the food was great. They will definitely get my return business!

I have to agree with #27. When I read the story headline I immediately said “another reataurant soap opera”.While I always enjoyed the food there, I always felt that it was a bit pretensous and felt like we were playing at dress up.

Well, how often did they expect their big local name chef to be there?

The way it works at most places these days is that the famous chef will start the restaurant, make sure that the sous chef/chef de cuisine and other cooking staff are trained to make the food consistent with the quality that said famous chef expects, then he leaves them alone.

Many of the celebrity owned restaurants are rarely in the kitchen of the restaurant once it is established; they’re at tapings for their TV show, writing cookbooks, doing interviews, on tour, starting a new restaurant (remember, many of the big names have multiple restaurants that they’ve attached their name and reputation to)… they’ll come back once in a while to work out new menu items with the staff they trained, but that’s about it.

Granted, Mr. Miller isn’t a national/international TV circuit chef; they probably expected him to be “in the office” more often than then he was as a result.

I have had some very good (and a few mediocre) meals here since the place opened, and I enjoy the food and the staff a lot. I can’t pin any particular meal on any particular chef and I doubt either of them had much do to with assembling what wound up on my plate. I do think the place was a lil bit snobby so I’m hoping for a menu and atmosphere that are less pretentious. I do hope they keep the staff, including the wine director who did more to sell the place and educate customers about food and drink than anyone else I encountered. We “foodies” know this is a tough business, and it’s not in the best of locations, but they do offer cheap valet parking (happily, I work in the building). I wish them the best of luck and look forward to sampling the new menu.

Dale is not “all that”….I know…..I am fortunate to have THE best chef in the area as a wife. Seriously, she graduated top of her class in culinary school in college and I GUARANTEE she’s beat ANYONE in a cook-off. Why people pay outragous prices for so-so food is beyond me. She cooks for children for a living, and they are some VERY lucky students.

I was in a few times before, and twice after his departure.
The last tasting was horrific and I understand even Ozimek was out of the kitchen that night. The service and atmosphere are always great
I’ll go back, but for one last chance.

#37…. you said you worked with Mike O huh? Did you work there for more then 30 seconds? His name is Paul.

From my understanding chef Ozimek has been running that kitchen for a very long time and is just now getting the title he has earned and deserved for over a year now. I went to a holiday party there last year and he was the one who did everything for our dinner (which was amazing). Anyone who says they “could tell something was off” because
they went to a dinner there last month and thinks it is because Paul is “suddenly” running things is crazy. That’s been his kitchen…. Congrats to him! Anyone would be lucky to eat his food. He could teach Dale a thing or two not just about cooking but about being dedicated to a place and having a good work ethic.

I’ve been there 3 times for dinner – the first time was terrible – slow service – food came out the 1st time and it was wrong – food came out the second time and it was cold.

Went a second time (4 or 5 months later) because I’m a nice guy and gave them the benefit of the doubt – the first time I went was within their first month of business – again – not good at all – slow service – came in at 9 didn’t get the bill until 11. Food was better – still not great – ordered a 1/2 portion – got a full portion – was too hungry to send it back.

Third time was an event on the top floor – Disaster all the way around. In a postmortem conversation I had with the host I learned the entire process was a disaster. In speaking of the general manager the host of the party resorted to referring to the GM as Maur-on because she couldn’t describe her in words one can use in polite company. And the food was horrible.

I never got the buzz about Dale Miller (the restaurant). And yes, I did eat there. It was like having to live through the 1980’s again, foodwise. Overwrought, overly complex dishes with 72 ingredients. No basic honest food, just a chef trying to be impressive. It was cool 25 years ago. Its passé now. What’s next? Blackened Red Fish?

I think there should be a test of the kitchens, just to break it down to see which has the talent and which one doesn’t. Good luck to the new chef there because he has big boots to fill and with a reputation which doesn’t exist in the capital region. And who ever thinks that they can cook better than a CMC should take a little trip down to the CIA in hyde park and spend one day of the ten that the test involves and re-evaluate what they think of their cooking skills opposed to one of a CMC.

We are food lovers. Ate there once, left still hungry and unimpressed with flavors or textures. Some great meals to be had in capital region now but still some over-priced pretenders. Good luck to new version of restaurant- we will give a try with open minds. No disrespect to master chef Miller but felt I could out-cook this prior version named for him in a throwdown. Here’s a shout out to Capriccio, New World, Hattie’s and others serving great food.

TASTE Sounds like a Holiday Inn bar/restaurant, maybe they should re-think that. Have eaten a Dale Miller’s a few times, was very good…now I know why our last visit we didn’t have the customary table-side greeting from the Chef (Dale Miller) during the meal.

all the commenters who claim they could tell something was bad the last time they went to Dale…or all the sudden they never thought it was that great anyways…are the same people that if you give them Sutter Home and claim its a $100 bottle from some obscure winery in France they’ll rave…and then when you let them in that its just an $8 bottle of wine they’ll say something like ‘Hmmmm…and I was just about to say these tanens are a bit overhandled…blah blah blah’ and other BS to prove they’re intelligent foodies…

um, cd… there are LOTS of people who can cook better than a CMC. Ever heard of Thomas Keller, Grant Achatz, Gray Kunz, Barbara Lynch??? Ferran Adria, Paul Bocuse even?? As far as I know, none of them are CMC’s (and some of them never even went to culinary school)yet they can all cook better than Dale Miller. Being a CMC is a load of bunk. The best chef in the area is not Dale Miller.

What I thought was cool about DM was thier hosting of networking / fundraising events – seemed a great promo idea. Love the outdoor patio in summer. Went inside due to rain one night and was simply intimidated – seemed kind of “members only.”

So, have been twice for events (neither with great snacks), but not yet dinner. Re: location, I don’t drink a lot so I can do $5 for the valet.

I hope the owners support their guy after this announcement with sufficient kitchen staff and reasonable time off.

Gossip has always been that Dale is a bit of a primadona.

I look forward to the more causal menu and hope it’s creative and delicious.

2.The dishes at “Taste” are predominately of Asian inspiration and now it is losing its fine dining appeal? Yono’s and Prime will dominate Albany.

3. I have only heard great things about Chef Miller. I would equate him to a successful coach…helps a place develop into greatness and then allows them to prosper and move on their own while he tries to turn over the next place. He is great for the industry and it’s not often you see that kind of sincere passion for something not to mention his track record of success has been outstanding.

Best of luck to both places! ‘Taste’ needs to lose the name and Maura…just because you fell into money doesn’t mean you know anything about how to make money.

I have enjoyed many fine meals by Chef Paul Ozimek at Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago, Springwater Bistro in Saratoga and more recently at Dale Miller in Albany. Good luck Chef Paul!! I am sure you will continue your success at Taste!!

Went to Sperrys after the “raving review” it got from the TU. NOT impresseed!!! I also ate at his restaurant when he was still “present”. Sorry, again……NOT impressed. 677 Prime is a far superior restaurant…….in my opinion.

Guest and I had a fantastic meal at the eponymous chef’s place in November. Little did we realize it was Paul Ozimek who deserves kudos. I’m still perplexed how my umbrella walked and there was no offer to borrow a house umbrella to escort my guest to her vehicle. Now my eponymous umbrella is missing…since Nov 4.

The Capital Region is fortunate to have a Certified Master Chef as one of their own Dale’s dedication, skills and expertise have continually been an asset to this community. He has played a huge role in the culinary scene and is truly proud to be amongst the many talented chefs in this area. Dale is also a true proponent of his colleagues as well as young culinarians and never hesitates to take time out of his busy schedule to assist them. He has given generously of his time and talent to Living Resources for more than 20 years and has served as the Culinary Cornucopia Chairperson for the past 15 years raising more than $900,000.
Dale, the very best to you and Sperry’s.

Dale Miller is like a basketball, he bounces from one restaurant to another. I was never really impressed with his cooking skills anyway. I try “Taste” now, since he has moved on AGAIN. I bet anyone he will be out at Sperry’s by the summer.

The food is consistently fantastic…..even when I did not know that Dale Miller had left….
I was extremely happy with this past years’ “Thanksgiving to Go”—Every dish was perfect and delicious…
Continued success to you!!!

I have been to Dale Miller a couple of times in the past year and I have to say that I have had a positive experience with the food and service both times. Given this article and the time frame that Dale Miller first left for Saratoga, it was likely Ozimek behind the enjoyable food. I have been working with Maura on a banquet for 2011 and she has been very helpful, quick to respond to ALL of our questions and extremely accomodating to all of our demands. I can’t say that I am fond of the name “Taste” but I can see that it may reflect their updated menu with additional smaller plates. Good luck to the new chef (who really isn’t new given his role at Dale Miller and his not-too shabby resume).

As a number of others have stated and alluded, I never saw the attraction after one visit. Over-priced and over-hyped. Miller has left a trail of floundering ventures behind him and I think his reputation has far exceeded his culinary abilities. I went to a retirement party there and was charged $10. for a simple cocktail. Last time ked this ain’t NYC. Next stop, Sperry’s . . . and then . . . As far as the future of Taste, get the shutters ready.

I always had good meals and service there, including over the last few months. I did notice that the last few times the chef didn’t come out to schmooze with the diners near the end of service, but didn’t really think much of it till now. I had some beef cheek ravioli in October that still make my mouth water just thinking about them.